Thomas Skernivitz

Berea

Senior Editor, American Fruit Grower Magazine at Meister Media Worldwide

Senior Editor of American Fruit Grower and American Vegetable Grower magazines, published by Meister Media Worldwide. Account 100% specific to agriculture.

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Articles

Reasons Fruit Growers Should Invest in Soil Moisture Sensors

1 week ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Kim Delay can think of at least two good reasons why tree fruit growers in Washington state should invest in soil moisture sensors: 1) every block, let alone farm, has its own soil profile, and 2) every year presents unique weather challenges. He has learned as much the last 20 years while serving as the Manager of CPC International Apple Co.’s operations in Royal City, WA.
Challenges and Solutions for Efficient Vineyard Canopy Management

1 week ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Targeting labor costs, Paul Licata, President of BDi Machinery in Macungie, PA, touts efficient vineyard mechanization, moving sequentially from sprayer to hedger to deleafer: Low-Volume Sprayer Problem: Customers have used traditional high-volume air-blast “soaker sprayers” and are not able to have consistent control over pressures and disease and pests impacting their crops.
Expert Advice To Help Stop Spider Mites in Their Tracks

2 weeks ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

As invisible as they might be, mites are hardly unnoticed by some of the country’s top crop protection suppliers. Here, four of them — Valent USA, Kemin Crop Technologies, Gowan USA, and BASF — educate growers in their attempts to manage the tiny but destructive pests: What mites are most problematic for tree nut, grape, and tree fruit crops, and how do mites impact those crops? Todd Burkdoll (Regional Manager, Field Market Development, Valent USA): Tetranychus spp.
The Unique 'Equipment' Choices That Keep This Louisiana Apiary Buzzing

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Cheri’ Ben-Iesau owns and operates Big Branch Apiary in Lacombe, LA. Nestled between the Tammany Trace and Big Branch Wildlife Preserve, the farm offers honey, free-range eggs, and seasonal blueberry and flower U-picks. Ben-Iesau is also an American painter, author, and retired member of the U.S. Coast Guard. After serving in the Coast Guard, she utilized her GI Bill benefits to attend college back home.
Overheated Fruit Leads One Grower to a Cool Solution

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Sometimes it pays to answer those pesky sales calls. Joe Cataldo, the owner of J&M Farms in Lodi, CA, learned as much — the hard way — in 2018. Carrying a bucket of cherries, Cataldo walked into a local restaurant, bearing gifts and bad news. He had recently watched 3 inches of rain decimate his cherry crop.
Apple Grower Finding Growth on the Soil Moisture Fast Track

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Straight out of Washington State University, John Rawley learned really quick about the importance of irrigation and soil moisture monitoring. His first season in charge of four properties owned by Custom Orchards on the region’s Royal Slope will long be remembered for the heat dome of 2021, which drove triple-digit temperatures up to 40 degrees above normal between June 26 and July 2. “Some orchard managers were doing a good job of keeping up on water, and other ones weren’t,” Rawley recalls.
Your Virtual Pass To the IFTA 2025 Winter Orchard Tour

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

The 68th annual meeting of the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) convened Feb. 17-19 in Rochester, NY. The middle day of the event featured a largely frigid day-long tour of four western New York tree fruit orchards. As is frequently the case during IFTA’s winter events in the East and Midwest, the themes of the day were high-density plantings … and layering. Scroll through the photo gallery below for some of what was seen and heard during the IFTA 2025 Winter Orchard Tour.
How Kait Thornton - ‘The Apple Girl’ - Has Grown Into Being the Face of an Industry

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Kait Thornton spends her days and nights (and pretty much any time she can get a Wi-Fi connection) trying to guide the apple industry through dark times. Ironically, she does so from a Pacific Northwest town that does not have a stop light. To its credit, though, Tonasket, WA — population: 1,100 — did make waves recently upon erecting a blinking stop sign.
The World Ag Expo’s Top New Products for 2025

Feb 12, 2025 | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

The World Ag Expo named its top 10 new products of 2025 in advance of its annual trade show, held Feb. 11-13 in Tulare, CA. Show exhibitors had nominated the first round of contestants and their new products, which ranged from simple solutions to high-tech devices.
Growers Want Help Against Cherry Leaf Spot Disease

Jan 29, 2025 | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

What is going on with cherry leaf spot? Organizers of the recent Great Lakes Expo in Grand Rapids, MI, posed that question during one of their educational sessions in December. Tasked with answering the query were two Michigan tart cherry growers, a local commercial fruit production consultant, and George Sundin, the tree fruit disease specialist from Michigan State University who has been trying to replace fungicides that have turned obsolete the last 15 years.